Olympic Curling-Sweden beat the USA in revenge for the 2018 men’s final
Curling – Round Robin Session 1 for women – Sweden v Japan
BEIJING (Reuters) -Niklas Edins Sweden beat John Shuster-led USA in the men’s curling and the European champions Great Britain started their Olympic campaign with a victory over Italy at the National Aquatics Center on Thursday.
Shuster’s team – which shocked favorites Sweden to win gold four years ago in Pyeongchang – went head to head in the round-robin competition from the start but disappeared in the second half and fell to a 7-4 loss after losing the final leg .
Britain’s Bruce Mouat, who missed a mixed doubles medal with Jennifer Dodds after finishing fourth, led his quartet to a 7-5 comeback victory over Italy while Canada were pushed to the final by hosts China before securing a 6-5 victory.
Earlier on Thursday in the women’s competition, Sweden’s Olympic title defense got off to a winning start while the world champions Switzerland survived a scare to win in their initial round-robin match.
Anna Hasselborg-led Sweden made an 8-5 victory over the Pyeongchang bronze medalists Japan while Denmark won against China 7-6 in the final.
Switzerland had to work for their win in a nail-biting competition and were behind Great Britain with 5-4, before they forced an extra finish and snatched victory after the last throw with the British jumper Eve Muirhead’s rock hardness.
The United States, led by Tabitha Petersen, took command of their competition against the Russian Olympic Committee from the start and were 6-1 over halfway before going on to a 9-3 victory.
“We came out and shot … Hopefully we can keep it,” said Petersen, who added the 2018 American ship Nina Roth to his rink as a deputy jumper in third place. “She’s a great asset and I feel comfortable having her by my side.”
Teams play nine games in the round-robin stage, which continues later on Thursday, with the top four advancing to the semifinals next week.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Ed Osmond)